


leave a toothbrush so i know it's real

by leoxingx



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, bff ten, domestic dojae, happy ending! :-), side johnten if you squint, somewhat insecure doyoung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 18:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17431547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoxingx/pseuds/leoxingx
Summary: Waving the toothbrush in question around as threateningly as one could while wearing bunny-printed pyjamas, Doyoung said, “I give you 10 seconds to admit your crime, Mr Jung. Did you use my toothbrush?”(doyoung is insecure and out of all things, finds reassurance in a toothbrush)





	leave a toothbrush so i know it's real

Doyoung stared at his toothbrush. He might have just woken up 15 minutes ago, but he prided himself on being an observant man and there was no denying his toothbrush had been used, bristles still damp and shiny in the morning sunlight. 

Poking his head out of the bathroom, he yelled, “Jung Jaehyun, did you use my toothbrush?” 

An innocent “Huh?” came floating in from the kitchen.  
  
Doyoung huffed. He stalked out of his bedroom, still dressed in his pyjamas. Waving the toothbrush in question around as threateningly as one could while wearing bunny-printed pyjamas, he said, “I give you 10 seconds to admit your crime, Mr Jung.”  
  
The guilty plucked the piece of toast hanging between his lips before he grinned sheepishly, hand coming up to scratch the back of his neck nervously. “Maybe?” he replied, feet shifting to move behind the island counter in an effort to put some distance between them.  
  
“You’re going to jail!” Doyoung said as he took off to chase Jaehyun around the island counter. Jaehyun was fast, but Doyoung was a man on a mission. It took just 2 rounds around the counter before Doyoung caught up with Jaehyun, pulling him back with a yank of his shirt and pinning him to the side of the counter.

“I don’t get what’s the big deal!” Jaehyun laughed as he tried to curl in on himself to protect his sides from the jabs Doyoung threw.

“It’s gross!” was all Doyoung said, focused on his relentless attack of poking the toothbrush at Jaehyun’s sides, knowing very well the younger was ticklish there. 

“Ah! Okay—okay! I’m sorry! Stop—please!” Jaehyun gasped out between laughs. His sides ached from laughing. “I’m sorry. There was no more mouthwash,” he said properly once Doyoung ceased his attack. “Besides, we literally exchange spit when we make out.” He ended his defence with a pout, levelling his boyfriend with a purposely exaggerated pair of doe eyes.   
  
Doyoung blushed. He was very aware of that, the purple bruises on his collarbones—fresh from last night— a clear reminder. He found himself with no defence of his own, resorting to leaning forward to kiss Jaehyun’s pout away.

Jaehyun wrinkled his nose. “Morning breath,” he teased. He laughed harder when Doyoung knocked him on the forehead with the toothbrush, reaching out to pull him closer. Doyoung responded with a pout of his own, although hidden as he rested his face against Jaehyun’s chest. But as Jaehyun continued to shake with laughter, he found his pout dissolving into a smile. 

-

An hour later, Jaehyun had left for work and Doyoung found himself in a cafe, seated opposite his best friend. 

“You haven’t invited me over for pancakes in a long time,” Ten complained as he browsed through the list of pancake options the cafe offered.   
  
“Sorry,” Doyoung apologised, “I’ve been pretty busy these days.”

He wasn’t lying completely. He _was_ busy with work these days. But that wasn’t the reason he hadn’t invited Ten over for breakfast pancakes. That was due to him already having another guest over, or more specifically—Jaehyun. 

He had met Jaehyun because of work a few months ago and they had clicked immediately. And call it fate, they also happened to live in opposite buildings. Since Doyoung’s apartment beat Jaehyun’s in size, they found themselves spending most of their time there. It started one night, when Jaehyun had come back from work late and realised he had forgotten the key to his own apartment. Too tired to ring the building’s office, he had stumbled over to Doyoung’s place, asking if he could crash on the couch for a night. Doyoung still remembered the moment he had turned on the intercom to see Jaehyun and his stupidly perfect face up close to the camera, and then even closer when he was sprawled on the couch, having knocked out almost immediately. Doyoung would never admit that he had spent nearly 30 minutes staring at Jaehyun’s face that night, soft and innocent in his slumber. 

He had left early in the morning the next day, after politely rejecting Doyoung’s offer of breakfast pancakes. Doyoung had thought his chances died that day, until his intercom rang a few nights later, the display screen showing a familiar handsome face. This time, his offer of breakfast pancakes were accepted and things just continued from there. From more breakfasts eaten together, it extended to dinners together too, be it home-cooked, takeaways or at restaurants. And it always ended the same: with Jaehyun staying the night, dressed in one of Doyoung’s shirts, before he woke the next morning and walked back to his own apartment to get ready for work. They had developed a nice routine, but Doyoung still found himself weirdly unsettled at times. 

“Decided on your order?” Ten’s voice startled him out of his thoughts.   
  
“Uhh, yeah, I’ll try their blueberry pancakes.”  
  
Ten nodded in acknowledgement, reaching for his menu as he got up to order at the counter. Doyoung took the opportunity to gaze at the view outside. Ten had chosen a cafe by the riverside and Doyoung found himself faced with the many couples who were strolling along the river, hand-in-hand. He swallowed drily, turning his attention away and reaching for his cup of water. He gulped the cold water down, emptying the cup before he set it down. He tried to ignore the feeling of tightness that still lingered in his throat.  
  
The condensation droplets that transferred from the glass cup to his fingers caught his attention. Rubbing his fingers together, they broke to form a sheen of wetness over his fingertips. They glistened in the sunlight, the sight of it reminiscent of his toothbrush from earlier this morning. He groaned internally. The incident from the morning had been disturbing him since like a nail that stuck out awkwardly and his reaction to the couples in public just felt like a hammer to that nail, sealing his grave.

“Hot pancakes incoming!” Ten exclaimed as he returned. Doyoung leaned back to make way for Ten as he placed the plate down in front of him. He gave his thanks, sighing with pleasure when the aroma wafted up to his nose. It smelled divine. Relationship worries could wait; it was _pancake time._

“Look! They even gave me ice cream,” said Ten as he lifted a scoop of what-looked-more-like-butter-to-Doyoung to his mouth. Doyoung just waited for second, cutting himself a piece of pancake in the meantime, before he heard Ten state dejectedly that “it’s butter”. He smiled into his food, making an effort to quickly swallow his food before he accidentally choked on it while laughing. 

“How’s moving going?” he asked. 

“It’s going well! Just a few more boxes and we’ll be all settled in this new home,” Ten replied, eyes bright with excitement. “But I’ll admit, I’m a little sad. I mean, we did live in that little apartment for our first 2 years — it holds a lot of memories.” Ten added some sniffles.   
  
Doyoung just hummed. A question of his own lingered at the back of his throat and before he could stop himself, it slipped out.

“Ten, how did you and Johnny decide to move in together?”

Ten stopped chewing, blinking a few times before he said, “Well, for starters, we’d been dating for nearly a year. And while that may seem short to some, I think what’s more important is that we had both felt ready for it. Also, we were spending so much time over at Johnny’s place that it just made sense.” Ten shrugged, and then fixed Doyoung with a curious look, cocking his head to one side. “What makes you ask?”

Doyoung just shrugged back, shifting his gaze down to stare at the squashed blueberry that had fallen out of the pancake. “Just curious.”  
  
But Ten wasn’t Doyoung’s best friend for no reason.  
  
“Ah,” he started, “is this about the guy you met at work?”  
  
Doyoung felt his ears go hot at that. Ugh, betrayers. He didn’t have to look up to know that Ten had noticed and was probably grinning that devilish grin of his.  
  
“Slow down tiger. You should probably think of asking him out first before thinking of moving in.” Doyoung could hear the smirk from Ten’s tone. “And speaking of which, I can’t believe you still haven’t done so. It’s been like, 8 months? You’re 23 years old, Doyoung. C’mon, no more time for crushes."  
  
Doyoung was suddenly thankful Jaehyun had the mind to leave hickeys where he could easily hide them. He wondered how his best friend would react if he were to find out that they had already moved way past the first date stage. He felt a pang of guilt for keeping secrets from Ten. But at the same time, he never really completely lied to his face. Ten was always asking if he had asked Jaehyun out yet, to which Doyoung would reply ‘no’ to, because it was true, he hadn’t. But not because he didn’t dare to, but because Jaehyun always went to him first, leaving him with no need to ask the other out.  
  
“I know you’re scared.” Ten’s voice was gentler this time, soft around the edges. Doyoung felt Ten’s smaller hand come to rest over his. “But I think it’s time to let yourself fall in love again. You deserve it, Doyoung.”  
  
Despite the twinge in his heart — caused by the underlying meaning of Ten’s words, Doyoung felt a smile creep onto his face. At times, Doyoung disliked how easily Ten could read him, but most of the times, he was more grateful that he had someone that could, and more importantly, was not afraid of pointing it out. Doyoung looked up, smiling playfully as he joked, “I like this softer side of yours.”  
  
Ten gave him a flick on his hand as he withdrew his own. “Ass.”  
  
Doyoung laughed into his hand, smiling as he said, “Thank you though, really. Maybe we can go on a double date with you and Johnny?”  
  
“I would love that! And then of course, we can have breakfast pancakes at your place?”  
  
“I would love that too."

-

Doyoung was lying in bed with his pillow hugged to his chest when his phone buzzed. 

 _jaehyunnie :_ _i’ll be over a little late! i hope you don’t mind :-(_  
  
Of course I don’t, Doyoung thought. He typed a reply immediately.

 _i bought you mouthwash_  
  
Jaehyun just sent a laughing emoji.  
  
Doyoung put his phone down and thought back to earlier in the afternoon when he had visited the supermarket with Ten after they had finished their pancakes. He had stood at the ‘Personal Hygiene’ aisle for awhile, staring at the many rows of different flavoured mouthwashes. “Glad to see you’re heavily invested in personal hygiene” was what Ten had said when he got tired of waiting. Doyoung had ignored him, eventually placing the standard mint-flavoured one into their basket.  
  
He hadn’t given it much thought then, but now back at home, with nothing but his thoughts to fill the noise, Doyoung found himself deep in the process of self-reflection. As if his realisation at brunch wasn’t enough, the incident at the supermarket really was just heavy duty masking tape, further sealing his grave.  
  
Ten had been right when he mentioned Doyoung being scared. He was indeed very much so. His previous relationship had ended badly, with his partner stating Doyoung being too passionate and that they had rushed into it too fast as a few of the multitude of reasons as to why they should break up. Doyoung had been heartbroken of course, especially since he had the impression they were going strong. It left him somewhat traumatised, and as of right now he was close to panicking, after having come to a conclusion: he really _really_ liked Jung Jaehyun.

From the whole toothbrush incident to his reaction to the couples by the river, it all held deeper meanings that were slowly uncovered as he dug into them. Doyoung was happy with where they were at now, he really was. Jaehyun coming over regularly had become a part of Doyoung’s life that he found himself looking forward to very much. So much so, the apartment almost felt empty without his hearty laugh filling the air. He couldn’t exactly remember when movies on the couch had turned to cuddling and then escalated into making out, but nevertheless, he liked it. And now he was scared he liked it too much. 

Doyoung wasn’t upset Jaehyun had used his toothbrush because of _germs_ (or okay, maybe just a little). It was more so because of the fact that he saw a much easier option: Jaehyun leaving a toothbrush of his own. Because right now, it seemed almost as if Jaehyun was just an enthusiastic best friend coming over for a sleepover every now and then. But Doyoung wanted to be more than that. He wanted to be one of those couples strolling down the riverside, hands tightly entwined between them, swinging in time with their footsteps. He wanted to bring their relationship outside of his apartment, where he could show the world the boy he thinks he has fallen in love with.  
  
His heart did a little flip at the l-word. Rolling onto his stomach, he buried his face into the pillow to muffle his screams of exasperation. His heart was beating fast in his chest. What if Jaehyun didn’t want to go to the next level? What if he was just satisfied with this private somewhat hidden relationship of theirs? On the other hand, he _had_ been the one to initiate most of the progressive steps of their relationship, but _still,_ what if? Doyoung didn’t want to mess up whatever they had because of his stupid feelings of passion. If it meant being able to continue waking up to Jaehyun all tangled in his sheets, Doyoung would gladly stab his own heart with his toothbrush until it shrivelled up and died.  
  
“Doyoung?”  
  
Doyoung was positive he flew a foot into the air. Shock had his heart rate shooting up to a thousand beats per minute. As he scrambled to get his bearings, he not-so-gracefully grabbed his pillow and plopped his ass down to face the person in his doorway. Standing there with freshly-washed hair and dressed in sweats and a baggy shirt, was Jaehyun. Doyoung felt his heart swell as he recognised the shirt as one of his, probably borrowed previously. So much for killing his feelings. He swallowed thickly, raising a hand to wave. “Hi.”  
  
Jaehyun blinked once before he broke into a giggle. Lifting his hand in imitation of Doyoung, he waved back. “Hi.”  
  
Doyoung wanted the ground to swallow him whole.  
  
Padding over to where he sat on the bed, Jaehyun pulled Doyoung in for a hug, their positions allowing for the younger to rest his chin on the top of the older’s head.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” he mumbled against his hair. 

Doyoung realised Jaehyun had mistaken his earlier position where he was screaming into a pillow as him sleeping. He chuckled, bringing his arms up and wrapping them around Jaehyun as he breathed in the scent of peach-flavoured soap. “No, no. Don’t worry, I was waiting for you.”  
  
Jaehyun pulled away in exchange for lifting Doyoung’s face with his finger to lay a kiss on his lips. Doyoung tilted his face up to chase for one more, which Jaehyun very willingly gave. He thought his heart was about to explode when Jaehyun pulled away again to turn off the room lights. Grateful for the break, Doyoung willed his heart to calm down. But as usual, it betrayed him, choosing instead to speed up as his betrayer of a mind relived how tender and gentle Jaehyun had been. If he was standing, his knees would most definitely be wobbly.

He shifted to give space for Jaehyun to slip into bed, mind racing through as many possible endings he could think of as he felt the barrage of words trapped behind his lips grow. When they both got comfortable, tucked under the duvet, feet just slightly touching, Doyoung found himself gazing straight into the younger’s eyes. They simply gazed at each other for a few moments — Doyoung was sure he had stopped breathing —before Jaehyun broke into a grin. The dimples that popped out were like dynamite to the the dam that was his self-restrain.   
  
“Jaehyun, would you—would you like to meet my best friend? His name is Ten and he has a boyfriend called Johnny and we could go on a double date or something if you’re up for it. I don’t know, I just think it’d be nice to introduce you to my friends but of course only if you’re up for it, if you’re not comfortable, it’s like totally okay, don’t worry about hurting my feelings, just tell me okay? I’m totally oka—”  
  
Jaehyun cut him off with a finger to his lips, his eyes wide and bright with amusement.  
  
“Doyoung,” he said slowly, “breathe.”  
  
Doyoung hadn’t realised he had been rambling on for so long until he realised how sweet it tasted to have oxygen fill his lungs again.  
  
Replacing his finger with his lips, Jaehyun gave him a peck on the lips and then, on both cheeks. He looked straight at him, eyes sincere and filled with an emotion Doyoung nearly dared to call love. “I would love to.” His dimples appeared again. “I would very much like to meet your friends.”  
  
Relief hit Doyoung like a freight train. He exhaled shakily, voice a pitch higher as he breathed, “I can’t wait.”  
  
Jaehyun reached to entwine his fingers with Doyoung’s, bringing them up to plant a kiss on the back of his hand.  
  
“Slow and steady.”  
  
“Slow and steady,” Doyoung repeated, voice a little airy.

“Goodnight, Doyoung.”

“Goodnight, Jaehyun.”

They fell asleep that way — facing each other with their arms and legs entwined.

-

Doyoung woke to an empty bed the next morning.

He stumbled over to the bathroom, mindlessly brushing his teeth with one hand as he checked his phone with the other.

 _ten :_ _johnny had to ditch bcos of work and as my bff, you have no choice but to entertain me. i’ll be over in 30 minutes <3_

A quick glance at the time stamp told him he had about 5 minutes before the quiet of his morning would be interrupted. He let out a sigh. Slipping his phone into his pocket, he bent forward to splash water on his face, blindly feeling around for the tissue box before turning away to wipe his face as he made his way to the kitchen.   
  
Memories from last night still lingered, putting a skip in his steps. He briefly recalled Jaehyun brushing hair from his forehead earlier in the morning to drop a kiss before he left. His good mood had nearly dropped as he remembered he forgot to replenish his supply of flour when he noticed the bright yellow post-it on his fridge. Written in familiar handwriting, it read:

_realised you had no more flour so i went to buy some. let's make pancakes tomorrow :-) <3, jae_

His mood seemed to lift even higher, pulling the sides of his mouth up into a smile. He skipped around the island counter, even adding a twirl for the fun of it. The ring of the doorbell pulled him from his euphoric daze. Skipping over to the door, he greeted Ten with a smile.

“Well, someone’s in a good mood this morning.”

He just hummed in response, making his way back to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for pancakes. 

“I’m gonna use your toilet, okay?”

Doyoung responded with a wave of his hand. 

He started to whistle a tune, hands busy with measuring cups of flour when Ten’s voice rang from his bedroom. 

“Damn, Doyoung. I know you’re heavily invested in personal hygiene, but two toothbrushes? What’s that for? One for your top row and one for the bottom?”

Ten’s tone clearly hinted he was joking, but Doyoung stilled, hands carrying the measuring cup freezing midair. It took him a moment to register Ten’s words. _No way._ Placing the cup of flour on the table, he spun around, rushing past Ten to get to his bathroom. He was so sure he hadn’t mentioned anything specific last night and he didn’t think Jaehyun had mind reading abilities, and yet, when he turned the corner and stood in the doorway of his bathroom, there it was:

A peach-coloured toothbrush sitting next to his own purple-coloured one, bristles damp from use and shining in the sunlight that filtered in through the blinds.  


Ten appeared next to him, head moving around as he tried to identify whatever Doyoung was staring at. “What? What is it?” 

Doyoung just smiled, chuckling when he met Ten’s confused gaze.

“He left a toothbrush.”

**Author's Note:**

> exclusive look into the next moment:  
> ten: he? HE? kim doyoung your best friend card is revoked. you have ALOT of explaining to do
> 
> this was inspired by the song toothbrush by dnce, it's a rlly cute song so check it out! i had fun writing this and i sincerely hope you enjoyed reading it <3 i'm trying to challenge myself to write more and i even have an 'avatar the last airbender' au in mind so let's hope that works out! 
> 
> kudos and comments are always appreciated ♡ thank you so much for reading! :-)


End file.
